STARKE, FL
COMPANION: ELDER COLLETT
On Jordan's stormy banks I stand
And cast a wishful eye
To Cannaan's fair and happy land
Where my possessions lie.
When shall I reach that happy place
And be forever blessed?
When shall I see my Father's face,
When shall I see my Father's face,
And in His bosom rest?
I am bound for the promised land
I am bound for the promised land
I am bound for the promised land
Oh who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.
I have referenced these lyrics before in my letters, and I pray the repetition will be forgiven. But over the months the idea of a Promised Land has sunk in. The promised land in the Book of Mormon is the Americas. The Promised Land in the Bible is Palestine. I have been telling people for weeks that the Promised Land in the Jacksonville Mission is Starke, Florida. But in some secret part of my heart, the Promised Land is my home.
My home for a long time was a little house in Chula Vista, where my childhood played out before loving parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and friends. As I grew, home moved about from one place to another, following family and opportunity and friends. I knew it when I was there, I missed it when I was gone, and I tried to keep it in mind, whatever it was.
Home is wholeness. Home is rest. Home is where we belong. Home is flowing with milk and honey, where all sorrows rest, where our treasures are (or "our possession lie"), it is happy, it is blessed, and Father is there. I spoke of home last night after general conference to a beautiful young family, some of whom have begun to ask the questions that all must one day confront. In answer to these, I brought up on my iPad a picture of my homes; the celestial rooms of the new Fort Lauderdale Temple, and the celestial room of the San Diego Temple.
In my simple way, I told that family where my home was. I told them where I was whole, where I had found peace, where my Father's face is to be seen. I broke into tears as I said the words, "This is where you belong. This is where I belong. This is my home."
People ask me sometimes if I get homesick. The answer is absolutely yes. I have been homesick for 22 years. I am on my way home right now. I am getting there as quickly as possible. I cannot wait to be there with my whole, extended, crazy, wonderful family. With every man and woman I have ever called Brother or Sister, and felt the spirit confirm to me those words are more than perfunctory salutation. I am homesick. So are you. So is everyone. Some people just don't know it.
Home is wholeness. Home is rest. Home is where we belong. Home is flowing with milk and honey, where all sorrows rest, where our treasures are (or "our possession lie"), it is happy, it is blessed, and Father is there. I spoke of home last night after general conference to a beautiful young family, some of whom have begun to ask the questions that all must one day confront. In answer to these, I brought up on my iPad a picture of my homes; the celestial rooms of the new Fort Lauderdale Temple, and the celestial room of the San Diego Temple.
In my simple way, I told that family where my home was. I told them where I was whole, where I had found peace, where my Father's face is to be seen. I broke into tears as I said the words, "This is where you belong. This is where I belong. This is my home."
People ask me sometimes if I get homesick. The answer is absolutely yes. I have been homesick for 22 years. I am on my way home right now. I am getting there as quickly as possible. I cannot wait to be there with my whole, extended, crazy, wonderful family. With every man and woman I have ever called Brother or Sister, and felt the spirit confirm to me those words are more than perfunctory salutation. I am homesick. So are you. So is everyone. Some people just don't know it.
I am not home quite yet. On Jordan's stormy banks I stand. The storms are important. They are exciting. They, like the loads spoken of in Elder Bednar's conference address, give us the traction we need to return to our homes. There is precious little progress to be made by a becalmed ship. I am thankful for the storms, and yet, I cast a wishful eye. Not both eyes, not my whole heart. For there is a work to do! I am here on stormy shores! But one eye seems always to stray to my home, and a deep feeling of what missionaries refer to as "trunkiness" rests upon my heart. As much as I love it here, my soul seems to wander to Canaan's fair, and happy land, perhaps because it is where my treasure is! I have $0 in my bank account. If I were to move to the other end of the earth, I could fit all the wealth and property I have accumulated in 22 years into two suitcases, and carry them with ease. But oh in that fair, happy land, I am rich. There I am full. I long for it, for it is where my possessions lie.
I try not to be impatient. There are so many fun and delicious experiences here to be had. We are teaching NINE people every day at a car wash. Yes, we walk up to the car wash, split up (remaining, of course, within sight and sound) and teach either as they work, between cars, as they play, etc. Every single one of those nine people came to the church and watched General Conference with us this weekend. Every single one is different, an adventure, and a BARREL of fun. I would not give up the crazy afternoons with them for ANYTHING. But sometimes I can't help but ask when shall I see that happy place, and be forever blessed? Really what I'm asking is when shall I see my Father's face? My Father. My sweet, gentle Father. He is so powerful and wonderful and wise. He is so patient with me. He misses me more even than I miss Him. He is so SMART! He is such a good listener. I just want to be with Him, to talk to Him for hours, and in His bosom rest.
I try not to be impatient. There are so many fun and delicious experiences here to be had. We are teaching NINE people every day at a car wash. Yes, we walk up to the car wash, split up (remaining, of course, within sight and sound) and teach either as they work, between cars, as they play, etc. Every single one of those nine people came to the church and watched General Conference with us this weekend. Every single one is different, an adventure, and a BARREL of fun. I would not give up the crazy afternoons with them for ANYTHING. But sometimes I can't help but ask when shall I see that happy place, and be forever blessed? Really what I'm asking is when shall I see my Father's face? My Father. My sweet, gentle Father. He is so powerful and wonderful and wise. He is so patient with me. He misses me more even than I miss Him. He is so SMART! He is such a good listener. I just want to be with Him, to talk to Him for hours, and in His bosom rest.
I have such a long way to go. There is such a marvelous and wondrous work to do. I am so grateful to be a part of it. I am grateful for the carwash! I am grateful for the two men, smoking and drinking and laughing as we taught a lesson to their next door neighbor, who invited us up onto their porch and asked for Book of Mormons, and to learn more. I am grateful for the authority and power of the priesthood that I was blessed to conduct this week as it blessed and changed the lives of members of my family here in Starke. I am grateful for the man who has asked to be called by the missionaries every day as he walks away from all he once clung to in life so that he can worthily participate in the sacred saving ordinance of baptism. I am grateful for the wonderful young woman that has asked me to perform her baptism this Saturday.
I am grateful for what I have, and I know where I am going. I am here not because I do not wish to be there, but because I wish EVERYONE to be there. I am here not because I am not homesick, but because everyone is. So many people do not know where they are taking their life, or, worse, where their life is taking them. But I have been blessed. I am bound for the promised land. I am bound for the PROMISED LAND. God reigns there. He is supreme. It is perfect. It is satisfaction. It is resolution. It is peace. I refuse to believe anyone does not need it. I refuse to accept from any of my family here any denial of a desperate longing for it. I reject completely any profession that to abide therein is anything other than the all-consuming craving which ravishes each immortal soul without pause or breath. So I walk up to strangers and drag myself from bed and run or walk or crawl to ask through laughter, smile, or tears "Who will come??? Who will come and go with me? I am bound for the promised land!
I am grateful for what I have, and I know where I am going. I am here not because I do not wish to be there, but because I wish EVERYONE to be there. I am here not because I am not homesick, but because everyone is. So many people do not know where they are taking their life, or, worse, where their life is taking them. But I have been blessed. I am bound for the promised land. I am bound for the PROMISED LAND. God reigns there. He is supreme. It is perfect. It is satisfaction. It is resolution. It is peace. I refuse to believe anyone does not need it. I refuse to accept from any of my family here any denial of a desperate longing for it. I reject completely any profession that to abide therein is anything other than the all-consuming craving which ravishes each immortal soul without pause or breath. So I walk up to strangers and drag myself from bed and run or walk or crawl to ask through laughter, smile, or tears "Who will come??? Who will come and go with me? I am bound for the promised land!
Jesus is the Christ! He lives! Stop! Stop what you are doing and worship Him! Fall on your knees, all ye who labor, who are heavy laden, who join in the human condition of toil and pain and sweat and praise your God, Master, Maker, and Friend. Oh that I were an angel, and could have the wish of my heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! Yea I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. And perhaps in that process, my sorrows would be lifted. Perhaps in that process, I would finally fully repent. Perhaps one day my own foolishness and vice would finally be shaken, and I would be free at last. Oh how wondrous that would be. Oh how wondrous that WILL be. For He lives! President Monson speaks for Him, the Book of Mormon testifies of Him, the temples house Hum, and Joseph saw Him, standing on the right hand of God, and heard the voice bearing record that He is the only begotten of the Father. He demands obedience. He promises life. True life. Not this shadow we walk in. Not this figment which we slovenly entertain. There is life to be had, now and forever. The life that He lives.
I am not there. I am so very far away. I am uneducated, weak, penniless, and small. So many of the people I invite are, unwittingly, MILES ahead of me on this straight and narrow path. But I am not concerned by my weakness or my puny progress, neither am I intimidated by the grandeur and the beauty of the spirits which I endeavor, in some small way, to teach. For because of the Prophet I love desperately, because of the Book of Mormon, which I study hungrily, because of my Savior, whom I worship fervently, because of Father, my Father, I am bound, tied, grasped, sealed, inescapably, unalterably, eternally, for the promised land.
I love this gospel. it is true, and I had an incredible week.
With my love,
~Elder Jorgensen
I am not there. I am so very far away. I am uneducated, weak, penniless, and small. So many of the people I invite are, unwittingly, MILES ahead of me on this straight and narrow path. But I am not concerned by my weakness or my puny progress, neither am I intimidated by the grandeur and the beauty of the spirits which I endeavor, in some small way, to teach. For because of the Prophet I love desperately, because of the Book of Mormon, which I study hungrily, because of my Savior, whom I worship fervently, because of Father, my Father, I am bound, tied, grasped, sealed, inescapably, unalterably, eternally, for the promised land.
I love this gospel. it is true, and I had an incredible week.
With my love,
~Elder Jorgensen